Christmas Bells


I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


It's Christmas. I'm sitting here in my cozy robe drinking a cup of my mom's homemade hot cocoa. Ahhh.... Peace at last. (the kids are asleep) As for the rest of the day-- beautiful chaos. I love to see Christmas through the eyes of a three year old and a one year old. My kids woke up at their normal time, thank goodness! We then led the children out to the living room to see their presents under the tree and their stockings filled with stuff. I then sat and took pictures while Cameron guided them through the sea of presents. Greta found her own under the tree. She can read her name, so she insisted on finding her own. She took her time unloading her stocking, admiring every trinket inside. She then set them down on the ground in front of her, lining them up so she can see them all. Austin just squealed with joy then moved on to the next present. After it was all over, Austin wanted to open more presents that were sitting there for other family members. He wasn't allowed to. He threw a fit. He kicked. He threw wrapping paper. It was adorable. I took a video. :) Then I looked around and wondered how I was ever going to clean up the mess made from the morning. *sigh* Another day.

After our family Christmas, we got the kids dressed and headed next door for round two. There, the kids were flooded with even more gifts and huge stockings. It was a fun morning, but exhausting. The highlight over there was Greta getting a homemade pillow from her cousin, Kalin. She opened it and hugged it and said thank you. Then she announced that if she pees on her pillow she will have another one to use. She is a strange girl. She never pees on anything. I guess she was just happy she had a backup just in case that ever happened.

After round two, we came home for a while. Austin took a well needed nap. Greta played with her new toys and camera. (thanks mom and dad!) Cameron watched TV. I sat and looked out the window. It was during this time that Cam discovered that our freezer in the Garage had been open for a couple of days and everything was defrosted. That was not fun news. I guess we're going to Costco tomorrow.

After Austin woke up, we headed to Cameron's parents for round three. By this time we were pretty tired of opening presents. Actually, the kids just wanted to play with their cousins instead of opening anything. We forced them to open Christmas presents. I never thought I would have to do that! They loved what the recieved, then they played. All of us adults just sat and listened to four wound up children running throughout the house with the sound of neverending musical toys playing in the background.

We came home. We bathed the children. We put them in bed. We crashed. I'm going to bed now. It's 9pm. whew.